Color Cement Handicraft 12

Color Cement Handicraft 12

DIFFERENT COLORS on different parts of the surface can be produced as

follows: Mix cement colors with equal parts of cement. Grind these

colors with the putty knife or pestle and place each color in a small

saucer or pan. Oil the surface of the mold with a brush, dabbing it on

in short strokes. The colors are next dripped from a brush onto their

right location. This layer of color should be about a quarter of an inch

thick and left to stand until firm on the surface. It is then covered

with a layer of concrete and smoothed off to a level.

 

TEA TILES OR LARGE TILES for inserts into garden furniture or for

architectural use can be strengthened by a reinforcement. A

reinforcement may be made from the ordinary window screening or any wire

fence mesh or so-called hardware cloths used in building construction.

 

This wire should be cut a little smaller than the tile and sunk into the

concrete layer while soft. It should be pressed down with the fingers

until the concrete closes over it. This will add a considerable strength

to the tile.

 

After the tile has set for several days, it is removed by inserting the

knife between the edges and carefully prying it apart, or steaming apart

by placing over a low flame for a few seconds. If part of the color

remains sticking to the plaster mold it is because there was not enough

oil on that particular spot. Therefore remember that a mold surface

should be well oiled before placing the color into it, and care being

taken that there is not so much oil that it settles in the hollows and

grooves.

 

The tile after drying thoroughly may be polished with wax and used.

 

FOR MODELING LARGER OBJECTS such as flower pots, urns or similar forms,

it is best to form some means of reinforcement to approximate fairly

closely the final form of the object. Close meshed wire can be used

successfully for this purpose. It should be tied and braced firmly so

that the concrete or cement weight will not destroy its shape. The

concrete mixture should be made with one part cement and two parts clean

sand.

 

TO HASTEN THE SETTING OF CEMENT add a very small quantity of common

washing soda to the water used in mixing the cement. This will cause the

cement to set up rapidly so that the work can be done more quickly.

 

AFTER THE MIXTURE HAS BEEN APPLIED over the wire reinforcement and

shaped and modeled until completed, it should be put in some covered

place or in a moist location for the first two or three days so that the

moisture in it will not evaporate.

 

TO HARDEN THE CEMENT OBJECT immerse it well in the water for four or

five days. If it stays longer in the water it will not hurt the object.

The water will harden or complete the action of hydration necessary to

make cement durable.

 

TO SECURE BISYMMETRIC SHAPES to forms or to secure true circular shapes,

a templet of sheet metal can be cut and rotated from a centrally located

axis. This is used while the mortar or concrete is in plastic condition

so that the templet will cut or model the right contour.

 

CARVED CEMENT is made possible by scraping or carving out the cement

when it is in the right condition. This condition can be determined by

scraping the cement to see whether it is hard enough to carve. If it is

too hard, it cannot be carved successfully. About sixteen to twenty

hours setting will produce about the right condition but this will vary

according to the mixture and climatic conditions, as temperature will be

an important thing to consider in all color cement work. Very hot

weather is not a good time to do color cement, the winter days or gray

cool days are best to work with cement for perfect hardening results.

Avoid freezing weather.

 

TO CARVE CEMENT, the tools may be of metal or nails shaped with cutting

points and the work done similarly to the carving of the sgraffito tile

described in the previous chapter. No adding or building of parts is

possible, the whole subject being a process of taking out parts and

shaping the parts that are left. Backgrounds and portions can be varied

in texture and different results will be secured with a little

experimenting.

 

DIFFERENT TEXTURES are possible in the carved tile. A glazed surface to

the carved tile is secured by carving on the upper side of the tile;

while the dull under surface, the side molded against the glass or under

surface, will be used if a dull surface for the carved tile is desired.

 

A GLAZED OR MAT FINISH BACKGROUND in the carved tile can be secured by

immersing the tile in water for a day or two for glazed finish or an

hour for a mat finish and then applying neat cement, plain or with color

as described in the chapter on Color Work for Tiles.

 

CARVING ON BOWLS AND VASES and other forms can be done, care being taken

that the carving does not go so deep as to weaken the surfaces. Motifs

or spaces can be carved out of cement bowls and vases and bits of

stained glass or mosaics, or color cement can be put into the spaces and

neat color cement used to bind the additions into the spaces.

 

SLIP-PAINTED PORTIONS MAY BE ADDED to the carved tile. After the tile is

carved and properly moistened in preparation for the cement to be added,

the color cement is mixed to a thin slip and a background pattern or

decorations can be added to the surfaces of the carved tile. The tile is

then placed in shallow water without permitting the water to reach the

surface of the tile, and permitted to remain for four to six days before

removing. It should then be placed in a cool location until completely

dried.

 

THE UNIT TILE or the small tiles made to be assembled in patterns, may

have modeled or carved cement surfaces combined with the units to

complete the pattern. For instance a number of tiles representing leaf

forms may be combined with others representing flower motifs. These may

be imbedded into a panel of cement or concrete, the units grouped in

some form of design growth, the stems and other related portions being

modeled in the cement, or carved in the surface after the cement is

somewhat hardened. The units can be in color or mat finish, the

background remaining in dull finish.

 

MODELED CEMENT TILES differ from the cement tile with a modeled surface.

In the first the modeling is done on wax or clay and the cement tile is

made by duplicating the effect by the use of plaster molds. The modeled

cement tile is a modeling of the cement by hand while it is still in a

plastic stage.

 

TO PREPARE CEMENT FOR MODELING, pour a concrete mixture into the mold so

as to allow for a second added layer of about one quarter inch of neat

cement. This last layer of neat cement is the part which is to be

modeled and can be made into a color by the addition of color to it.

This color should be added in the dry form to the dry cement, mulled or

ground well into the cement and then mixed with water until it becomes a

thick cement paste that will pour slowly onto the concrete mixture first

placed in the mold, until it covers the entire surface. A gentle jarring

of the mold will settle the color evenly and it should then be permitted

to stand until of a good modeling consistency.

 

A GOOD MODELING CONSISTENCY for cement is determined by testing it with

a tool or small pointed stick making a small incision or trying a small

section to see if the mixture holds its form. If the cement as laid up

on edge stays in position and does not have the tendency to fall or

settle, it is then ready to model, as it will hold its form when built

in relief.

 

PROMPT ACTION IS NECESSARY when the mixture is at this point and the

tool should be promptly used scraping or sketching the subject by

incised lines in the surface. Then parts of the cement are scraped from

the low portions and placed on the parts to be in higher relief until

the general rough forms are massed in. The smaller parts are then

detailed in and the different parts finished just as one would in

working with clay or modeling wax. If it is found that parts do not hold

up, it is because under sections of the cement have not dried

sufficiently and it will be necessary to wait until it hardens a little

more.

 

THE FINISHED RESULT may be complete with the strokes of the tool or the

modeling instrument showing over the entire surface.

 

If the technique is shown in this way, care should be taken that the

strokes are pleasing in direction and not carelessly left. As the tile

hardens it will be found that the surfaces or edges can be shaped, and

even when the surface is almost hard, it can be slightly indented or

carved to produce different textures and varying qualities.

 

GOOD MODELING TOOLS are those that are made from pear wood for sculptors

use. Metal modeling tools also can be used. Good home-made modeling

tools can be made from manicure sticks, pencils, dowel sticks or

ordinary small hardwood pieces shaped with a knife. These pieces should

be smoothed down very evenly with fine sandpaper and then rubbed with

beeswax or paraffin to avoid any rough surfaces. Rough surfaces will

cause the cement to stick to the tool. Experience will be a good guide

to the worker in color cement for determining the best shape to make the

modeling tool, as individual needs and ways of working will determine

the best form for each person.

 

[Illustration: Modeled and Carved Cement Tile Methods]

 

 

 

 

[Illustration]

 

CHAPTER 10

 

Color Cement

for Bowls and Vases

 

[Illustration]

 

 

THE COLOR FOR BOWLS AND VASES is mixed the same as for the tiles and it

will be found that the use of the muller to grind the color is necessary

to secure a good mixture. The color should be of the right consistency

for rotating inside of the molds, which can be best determined by a

trial. It will fall off the sides if too thin and if it is too heavy it

will fail to roll evenly.

 

TO PREPARE A VASE OR BOWL MOLD for color, the parts to come in contact

with the color should be oiled after they have been immersed in water.

The parts are then assembled and tied together. Corresponding marks or

figures can be placed on the molds so that there can be no mistake in

combining the correct sections. Such marks will avoid confusion,

particularly where the mold may be composed of a number of sections.

Molds for vases are not shellaced.

 

THE FIRST ROTATION is then made by taking a quantity of the color cement

or slip, mixed only with neat cement of thick quality, and pouring it

into the mouth of the mold into the bottom. A spoon may be used to place

the color if the mouth of the mold is large enough. The color is then

rotated by turning the mold gradually until the color covers all the

inside of the walls and the surplus is poured out into a pan. If the

color at first refuses to attach to the inside, a few slow revolutions

of the mold will generally overcome the trouble as the oil is causing

the separation and is overcome by a few turnings of the color.